Racine School District is a "Lesson for Hands Off Boards"

Amy Hetzner & Jennie Tunkieicz:

Among the problems highlighted in a recent investigation of the Racine Unified School District's relationship with a private firm was the "broad discretion" given to the district's superintendent.

Although the words are never mentioned in the seven-page preliminary report by Milwaukee-based law firm Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, to those familiar with the Racine School Board, that complaint refers to policy governance.

Begun in Racine in early 2006, policy governance was intended to reduce board micromanagement in operational issues that could be left to hired professionals, such as superintendents, so members could focus more on student achievement. It's a concept that is gaining support in school systems throughout the state with encouragement and training by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

The idea is that while school boards have traditionally been intimately involved in the operational issues of running school districts - some believe too involved - they have not been active enough in monitoring student achievement. Under policy governance, they draft policies and achievement goals and give wide leeway to their superintendents to meet those high expectations.

Area school boards are trying to change the traditional model, and three - Brown Deer, Kettle Moraine and Wauwatosa - have agreed to participate in a multistate study into whether their efforts can affect student performance.

"The demands have changed, where years ago boards were really to focus on the budget and maybe boundary lines," said LuAnn Bird, a governance consultant for the school board association. "What's changed for school boards is . . . there's more demand from the public that it's no longer acceptable to have children who, for example, can't read or graduate without the basics.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 3, 2007 7:40 AM
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